Gun turret for aircraft



Dem 5, 1939-v P. H. E. DE GAVARDIE I ,7

GUN TURRET FOR AIRCRAFT Filed June 18, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 P #504icarilia Dec. 5, 1939. P. H. E. DE GAVARD'IE I 2,182,722

GUN TURRET FOR AIRCRAFT Filed June 18, 1937 2 heets-Sheet 2 PatentedDec. 5, 1939.

Application June 18 1937, Serial No. 149,021

In France June 20, 1936 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to .gunturrets and more particularly Ipertains to means for mounting machine guns on airplanes.

Machine gun fighting between airplanes presents difliculties arisingprincipally from the fact that the combating planes are capable ofmoving in many directions and at high speeds and the speed in thedirection in which each plane is moved may be altered quickly so that avery short space of time is provided for the gunner to aim the weaponsto directly fire thereof on an enemy plane.

An object of the present invention is to provide gun turret allowinguniversal movement of the gun and providing means for supporting andmoving the gunner in a fixed relation with respect to the weapon so thatthe machine guns may be more efilciently trained on an enemy plane.

Another object of the invention includes control means for a universallysupported cage in which the gunner is seated so that the cage and thegims may be manually moved as a unit whereby the gunner will be in aposition to take proper aim on the moving target provided by anotherairplane.

Other and further features and objects ofthe invention will be apparentto those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying anexemplary embodiment of the invention is I disclosed.

In the drawings: t Figure 1 is an elevational view of the cage forsupporting the gunner and the weapons illustrating the manner in which aturret may be mounted on the fuselage.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the turret shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view partly in elevation illustrating themechanism for transmitting motion tothe turret cage.

Figure 4 is a view partly in section illustrating the means for securingthe turret cage in a fixed position.

Referring to the drawings the front part of the fuselage is indicated atl and a stem 2 of a fork-like member having two prongs 3 and 6 ismounted in bearings 2a and 21: at the front part of the fuselage. Theprong-like members 3 and 4 are provided with bearings 5 and 6 inwhich acage I is pivotally supported. The cage is formed oftubes providing askeleton structure for supporting the machinegunssand 9. The cageis 55provided with a trough-like seat It adapted to drawings and thefollowing description wherein accommodate a gunner as indicated at ll.It will be noted that the cage is suspended in a univeral fashion sincethe fork can turn about the axis X-X' in the bearings 2a and 2b of thefuselage and the cage can also turn in the bear- 5 ings 5 and 6 so thatthe machine guns 8 and 9 and the gunner II are simultaneously moved soas to aim the guns in any desired direction.

The gunner may be securely held within the seat ill by means of a strapl3 arranged around 10 the chest portion of the gunner and a strap l5arranged to encircle thethighs. The feet of the gunner are securely heldin position by straps I7 and I8.

The sighting device I2 is arranged between 15 the machine guns 8' and 9.The position of the gunner with respect to the sighting device may bechanged by means of a pivotally mounted nut I9 which is engaged by arotatable screw which is mounted to pivot in the bracket 2|. The lower 0part of the trough-like seat It! can also be moved to vary thepositionof the gunner with respect to the sighting device I2 by means of anelongated screw 23 which engages the nut supported in the bracket 22.The other end of the screw 23 is 25 pivotally supported as indicated at24.. The leg supporting portions of the seat are guided by the abutments52 and 53 and by turning the screws 20 and 23 the position of the gunnermay be adjusted so that his eyes will be in proper position with respectto the sighting device l2. Such, adjustments of the seat will also causethe center of gravity of the cage to be at the axis of the bearings 5and 6 or the point indicated at ii in p Fig. 1. I

The arms of the gunner are thus free to manipulate the turret and twoindependent cranks 25 and 26 are provided for moving the turret. Thecrank 25 is mounted to turn in the bearing 5 and rotate the bevel gearwheels 21 to transmit motion to a shaft 28 which is housed within thepronglike member 3 of the fork. The shaft 28 carries a pinion 29 whichmeshes with a spur-wheel 30 fixed to the front plate 3| of the fuselage.Thus by turning the crank 25 the prongs 3 and 4 of the fork and the cageI will be turned about the axis XX'.

The crank 26 is provided for rotating the cage about the axis of thebearings 5 and '6. The

mechanism for effecting such rotation of the cage i is more clearlyshown in Fig. 3 and includes a gear wheel 32 at the end of a crank shaftwhich meshes with the gear wheel 33.

' The gear wheel 331s provided .with a pinion, 34 which meshes with theteeth 35 of a ring memher 36a. The ring member 35a is secured to the-prong 4 of the fork member so as to cause the cage I to turn about theaxis of the bearings and 6. a

The cage may be housed within a transparent cover (not shown) which issecured to the wall member indicated at 36 in Fig. 3 which also providesmeans for supporting the bearings of the gear wheels 33 and 34.

The independent cranks 25 and 26 are supported in the bearings 5 andSand in bearings provided in a bracket 38 as shown in Fig. 3. Thebracket 38 is provided with a housing 31 in which the shafts of thecranks 25 and 26 terminate. The crank shaft 25-is provided with a disc39 and the crank shaft 26 carries a disc 40 which discs rotate withinthe housing 31.

The crank shafts may be secured in any rotated position by means ofbrake shoes 4| and 42 which may be forced into engagement with theperiphery of the discs. The brake mechanism i may be actuated by a handwheel 44 which causes tion of the cranks 25 and 26. The crank 25 is'employed to rotate the cage 1 about the axis I X-X' andsthe crank 26 ismoved to..rotate the cage about the axis of the bearings 5 and 6. Thusthe guns may be directed at anyangle with respect to the body or thefuselage I of the airplane.

While the invention has been described with reference to specificstructural details it is to be understood that changes will be madetherein by those skilled in the art. Such changes may be made withoutdepartingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claim.

What I claim is:

A gun turret for aircraft including in combination a universalsuspension, a movable unit comprising a gunners cabin, a seat and aweapon, said unit being supported substantially at its centre of gravityby the universal suspension, the weapon being rigidly secured to thegunners cabin, control means adapted to be manually operated forrotating the said movable unit respectively about the two axes of theuniversal suspension for the purpose of pointing the said weapon toward81W direction in space, said manual control means including two separatehand wheels mounted on each side of said seat on an axis passingsubstantially through the center of gravity of said movable unit, meansfor securing said movable unit in each position to the body of theaircraft, said securing means including a brake acting simultaneously onthe two hand wheels controlling said movable unit.

vPIERRE.HlilNl'tY EDMOND or: GAVARDIE.

